5 Countries in 4 hours

This past weekend we had a great road trip. We left Saturday morning and headed southwest. About an hour and half out is the town of Vaalserberg. Outside of the town is the Drielandenpunt ("Three-Country Point"), or Dreiländereck ("Three-Country Corner") , or Trois Frontières ("Three Borders"). It is what is sounds like, the point where Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium all meet. I'm not giong to say that there wern't some worng turns onto dirt roads (or walking paths), but we managed to get up there. It is great area for hiking, and there is a playground, restaurants and souvenir shops. This started our journey of 5 countries in 1 day. There were 2 separate observations towers, keeping with Ryan's loves of stairs we climbed the one in the Netherlands. Mike did make it to the top, but stayed in the center. Ryan on .the other hand walked right out to the wall of the glass floored observation deck, 353.5 meters (1160 feet). He has no fear. I did it too but with caution and over-riding fear.

After Dreiländereck we continuted on our way. The kids were starving so we stopped at Aldi in Belgium for some snacks. (Brief Aldi history, German grocery store owned my 2 brothers, they found like 40 years ago over selling cigarettes, and split the country. They also split all rights to other countries. The one who got my area of Germany also got th US, Aldi Süd. Recently, the descendnats of the other brother, realized the size of the American market and opened “Trader Joe's” A-ha, now you know why I just explained all that) Anyway, Mike bought pistachios and I got cashews, and they were both Trader Joe's brand. I though that was interesting. 

You may have noticed Mike is a bit of a beer snob and has set out to visit all 8 of the Trappist brewereries in the world, most of which are in Belgium. Trappist beers are made my monks in Monasteries. One just happened to be 20 minutes off our route, along a dirt farm road, so off we went to Orval. If a monastery can be adorable, this one was. The actual monastery was closed, but we could eat at the restaurant and drink the beer. There was also a field of horses, a pond full of ducks and swans and a gift shop. I thought the beer was fine, Mike can elaborate on that, but my meal was DELICIOUS! The monastery also makes their own cheese. The take diced potatoes, bacon and their own cheese and bake it all together. Amazing. Served with a small salad, toast, and some sweet pickles, I was in heaven.

While looking at the map, we noticed that we were a nine iron from France. How could we only go to 4 countries in one day when we could go to 5? We had to find a bridge to cross over a creek and we were in France. On one side of the bridge the license plates in the driveways were Belgium and on the other France. We snapped a few quick pictures and got back on our way. Not surprisingly, our way included a 7 km drive on a one-lane, dirt farm road. I notice a theme developing here. I think at one point, Mike and I were laughing hysterically at nothing because we had been on so many farm roads, we were delirious.

Margny, France

After that we had a short ride to Luxembourg to meet with Mike's Aunt Diane and her friend from Germany, Anette. Diane was passing through on her way to a conference in Malta, and inspired our trip to Luxembourg. All the kids wanted to do, even thought they saw 5 countries in like 4 hours,was go swimming in the indoor pool, so that made them happy. 

Saturday night we weren't overly impressed with Luxembourg City. It's small, and they mostly speak French. Maybe we were getting spoiled by seeing so many amazing places. The entire city is built on the edge of a ravine that curves around the city, making it very hard to navigate. We had a delicious dinner with Diane and Anette. 

Erin and Diane also had hot chocolate from The Chocolate House. They give you a cup of blazingly hot milk and you choose the flavor of chocolate by which spoon you choose. Cool idea. The chocolate melts of the spoon and you have hot chocolate, flavored about 30 different ways.

So, Sunday morning I woke up and attempted to find somewhere for breakfast, just croissants and coffee, not the full hotel breakfast. I ended up getting lost, but found “real” Luxembourg. It was beautiful. It was a different part of the ravine, with defenses on the hill sides and the quaintest little village down below. It easily took us an hour to navigate our way down and explore the town. The pictures speak for themselves. 

Several companies have locations in Luxembourg for tax reasons,
including PayPal, Amazon, and I'm guessing Coca-Cola.

After that we headed to the American Cemetary of Luxembourg. Here is where the soldiers from the Battle of the Bulge are buried. If a cemetary can be beautiful, this one was. There isnt a blade of grass out of place. Plus, I believe it is technically American soil, so did we actually visit 6 countries in 2 days? General George Patton is also buried here.

Next stop was Trier, Germany. Trier is the oldest city in Germany (although Cologne disputes this). Beautiful old churches and a humongous piece of Roman wall, the Porta Nigra. It was built between 186 and 200 A.D. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_Nigra)

Also, in Trier are the church records of a town called Mühl,Germany which hold information about my Great-Great-Great Grandparents on the Phillips (Philipp) side who came from towns close to Trier. I have been in contact with the archives and was told I can come and view the documents. I will certainly be paying a visit back for that.

That completes our crazy weekend. Next up Erin's NECIS (Northwest European Council of International Schools) basketball tournament next weekend and looking forward to the tulips blooming in The Netherlands and Rick & Linda's arrival in 3 weeks.

Karneval 2014

So what do I think about Karneval in Germany? After 5 days of debauchery, I'm bothered that I was no longer bothered by the grown men dressed as frogs walking down my street drinking beers at 11 in the morning, on Mondays.

Mike has been ready for Karneval for months, me not so much. He had his costume planned out and ready, I hesitated and delayed. I'll admit, I should have been more ready, but alls well that ends well.

First a brief history on Karneval.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival)  Karneval is the same as what people people call Mardi Gras in the US.  Oddly enough people from New Orleans call it Karneval.  In Europe the two big places for Karneval are Venice and Cologne(Köln).  Düsseldorf, being the neighboring city to Köln, also gets into the fun and thousands of visitors come into the cities every year to celebrate. 

Thursday is Altweiberstag. (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weiberfastnacht)  It is Women's Day. The women take over the Rathaus and are pretty much allowed to do whatever they want. Including cutting off pieces of ties of any men they see, all the way up to the mayor. So Thursday morning, my friends and I dressed in our costumes and took the kids to school. I have never had the kids runs away from me faster. We boarded the train and cracked open our beers. (The night before, Mike and I made an emergency run to Aldi for beer in plastic bottles, clutch move. BTW, Aldi's 6 packs are 1.69) A quick stop at Starbucks are we were ready for the day (did you ever think you would see me drinking Starbucks, let alone drinking Starbucks after having a beer, all before 10 AM, in costume)

All Karneval related activities start at the hour plus 11 minutes, I don't know why, I'm sure there is legitimate reason. It kind of feels like how TBS used to start shows at 5 minutes after the hour. While we were waiting there were beers passed around, and bands playing on the stage. At 11:11 the mayor came out on the balcony and a woman came out and “stole” the key to the city, I think, it was all in German. Then the women 'stormed' (it's a very controlled storming) the Rathaus, not us, we hit the bar. We settled into a nice Irish bar (the scene of a few past and future late-night karaoke incidents). Obviously, the men of the city also know that it is women's day and are out in droves. You would be amazed how fast a 20 something can run when he asks why we are here from America and we respond that our husbands work here! LOLOL. They appear to be blind to wedding rings.

Check my video of Karneval in Düsseldorf

Mike had an interesting run-in. He dressed as a Steeler for his costume, helmet, pants, eye black, the whole thing. While waiting for his friends, a 10 minute walk from our house, he was stopped by a woman who wanted to take his picture, because her husband was from Latrobe and a huge Steeler fan. (Turns out her kids go to ISD and she was at the party mentioned later). But Steeler fans truly are all over the world! She was also not the last person Mike took a picture with, including a fake Flacco, who didn't even know who Flacco was, just found the costume and wore it.

After a few hours of drinking and dancing it was time to head home, but we went and met up with Mike and his colleagues for a drink before heading back to school to pick up the kids. Dinner was ordered out and eventually Mike showed up and home, and the Jameson family had survived Day 1 of Karneval 2014.

Friday is a more relaxed day. Not as much drinking as no costumes. Mary Jameson's friends Megan and Kris came up from Stuttgart for the Karneval weekend, so we just hung out with them.

Saturday night we went to a Karneval party, back in costume, with some friends from school then headed downtown until 2AM. Thank You Megan and Kris who relieved the babysitter! Side note, we found a great bar with 80s cover bands every night, if anyone might be interesting in visiting there.

Ice Cream for breakfast?
It must be Karneval!

Sunday we went to the kid's parade in Cologne. The route is over 4 hours long and winds throughout the entire city. All the schools in the city walk in the parade in amazingly creative and colorful costumes. And they throw candy. And everyone who isn't in the parade wears costumes as well. We found a nice sunny spot in an alley right in front of a hotel, so we had free access to a bathroom which was nice.  In the states we would call it an alley, here it is normally a two-lane road with parking on both sides.  Also there was a guy there playing Karneval music, so that really added to the festive atmosphere.

A bar made out of beer cases.
Brilliant!

When Mike was I the Kiosk buying us our morning beers, he saw a group of girls (in their 20s), who were all flustered and trying to buy some little souvenir. He went in bought his beers, and the conversation went something like this:
Girls: Can you help us pay for this?
Mike does, in German, then asks the girls where they are from.
Girls: U...S....A (very slowly)
MJ: Oh where?
Girls: Penn-syl-vania?
MJ: Really? Where in Pennsylvania?
Girls: Pottsville, where Yuengling beer is made?!
MJ: (dropping the Germany accent), “Oh, I grew up in Harrisburg.”
Blew their minds! Turns out they all go to Marywood and were on a “Chemistry of Beer, Wine and Cheese Tour” I should have gone to Marywood.

About 2 hours into the parade, we were getting hungry, so I will admit we cheated. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Cologne. It was amazing, a good hamburger is VERY hard to come by in Germany. Ok, I'll say it, that was the first one I have found. With a price tag of €14.95, it better be good. And they had free refills on the Diet Pepsi (Ok, I would have preferred Diet Coke) AND they had ICE!!!!! Ice is even more rare than a good burger. After lunch we found our way back to the parade and more candy, just what we need.

Normally Monday is major big parade and drinking day, but we just couldn't do it. Over 1.5 million people are in Cologne alone for their parade. Hopefully next year we will budget out drinking time a little better. Or schedule more practice time!

Heading to school on Monday for "Crazy Hat Day"

 

Ski Week 2014

The kids have a week built into their calendar for "Ski Week".  It's exactly what is sounds like, 10 days off school for all the families to take off on fabulous winter vacations (aside from skiing, some included staying at the Ice Hotel in Norway and flying down to the Canary Islands for some sun).

We opted for Imst, Austria, with our friends Stephanie and Brian and their 2 kids, on my first real attempt at skiing.  We took the train, which is an awesome way to travel.  For Mike and the kids and I, it was €240, round trip.  Can't beat that.  We left Wednesday morning, changed trains in Munich, and Innsbruck, Austria and by 4 PM that afternoon, we were in our hotel, Apartement Haus Winkler (http://www.winkler-imst.at/).  We had asked for a two-bedroom apartment, but ended up with 2 rooms, which was great.  The kids were right down the hall.  Lots of families in the hotel, which is good because people can never be sure that it is our kids making noise!  Since there were only 2 restaurants around, we opted for dining in the hotel.

 Ryan spent most of his time sitting at the bar watching the Olympics.

Like I said, this was my first real attempt at skiing.  Mike took me one other time.  I think I was pregnant with Ryan (maybe Erin), and it was at Boyce Park in Monroeville, not exactly the Alps!  So, we signed the kids up for lessons, and I was right there with them.  I'm sure it was the right decision, but it is hard to be the ONLY person over 14 learning how to ski!  Our teacher did speak English, but she kept asking me where we live in England, or at what age the kids start school in England.

 She is probably still wondering how far the towns of "Pennsylvania" and "Arizona" are from London!  We had 2 hours of lessons in the morning then lunch then 2 more hours for 3 days.  I will say there seemed to be a big difference in teaching styles than I would have expected.  She never taught us how to put skis on or off or get up if you fell. (remember, my first time, none of this is intuitive to me).  Of course by the end of the weekend we figured all this out (kind of) without being taught.

There was a great schirmbar (umbrella bar) at the bottom of the mountain.  They served pizza and bratwurst, as well as beer (obviously) and hot drinks for the kids. Best part was they could open or close the umbrella depending on the weather.

By the end of the first day, Erin decided she was ready for the bigger hill, so Stephanie (amazing, wonderful, patient Stephanie) took her down. She did good, but great for it being her first day.

As I said there was 1 bar, 2 restaurants, and like 2 hotels on the mountain, and NO ATM.  Any everyone takes cash only.  So Thursday afternoon, Mike and Brian got a ride down into town with the bartender, Nikki, to get cash.  Yes,that picture you have in your head of  a small town, ski resort bartender named Nikki, she looked just like that!

Friday was more of the same, but we went to the 'other' restaurant.  We sat next to a table of 2 Dutch families, who come there every year.  So comfortable, that they had brought their own food for the restaurant to cook for them, it looked delicious.  And their own alcohol to be kept behind the bar and served to them.

The owner of the restaurant was a snowboarder so last year they had wagered him a case of Dutch beer that he could get down the mountain in less than 15 minutes.  He broke three ribs, and it took him 16 minutes, but he got his case of beer this year.  Sitting with them also led to loud singing of Dutch soccer songs and Ryan dancing on the table.  Normal night right?

Saturday we convinced our teacher that were could leave the bunny hill and head up the mountain.  I survived, the kids thrived.  After lunch, I skied with Mike instead of going with the kids.  They even were doing small jumps, crazy.

View from our room with the Schirmbar

Saturday everyone also went for a ride on the Alpine Coaster, a 3500 meter track, coming down the hill, dropping 500 meters in about 15 minutes.  My job was to stand at the bottom and take pictures, my favorite assignment!

Saturday night we were having dinner while the TV was showing the medal ceremony for Women's Slalom. The US took the gold, so Mike asked them to turn up the volume on the TV so the kids could hear it.  The owner seemed confused, but did, and even turned down the music on the radio.  A few minutes later we realized why he was acting weird, Austria took silver and bronze!  We made them listen to the American National Anthem over two of their own skiers!!!  Oops!

Sunday morning, Mike the kids and I set out to attempt to see Imst, that took about 10 minutes since nothing was open on Sunday, so we ended up at McDonald's for some lunch and some free Wi-Fi!  On our taxi ride back to the train, Mike was telling the driver about how we were skiing with our friends and we are all from America but we live in Düsseldorf now, he replied, "Yes, I know, I took your friends up the mountain on Wednesday".  Apparently we were the only Americans in town!